In the last couple of weeks we saw PTI activists and perform the task of physically blocking the Nato Supply routes to Afghanistan, in protest against drone strikes and ‘the resulting civil war in Pakistan.’
Whether this protest is lodged with US or PML-N, I don’t see it achieving anything but political mileage for PTI. PML-N government already shares, by and large, the viewpoint that the PTI has on the issue of terror. It also agrees with it on the issue of drones.
Afghanistan is not just a war ravaged country but also a land-locked one. It gets its food supplies from different routes, the principal amongst them being Pakistan. To put things in perspective, the import-export associations, who are staging a protest of their own against the PTI’s strikes, say that the number of containers of fruits and vegetables that cross the border ranges from 450 in the off-season to 2,000 in the peak season. That figure has now dribbled down to 50 to 100. This is a course of action that is not really going to stop the drone strikes. it is only going to make NATO’s logistical costs only marginally greater if they were to start employing any other routes. But it would certainly lead to food insecurity in Afghanistan.
Not only is Pakistan’s target of export to Afghanistan ($2 billion) not going to be met, but even the tax revenue stream that the transit trade was going to provide the provincial government, one that the latter has itself accounted for in its budget, is not going to be met.
Bushra
20:10 hours
Saturday 14 December 2013
Blocking Nato Supply
The Baloch march
On October 27th a group of women, children and even old have commenced a 700 kilometer walk from Quetta to Karachi for their rights , for knowing whereabouts of their beloved and for a peaceful secure future which is a right of every Pakistani.
Bushra
19:40 hours
Friday 1 November 2013
Malala, the ‘foreign agent’ and Dr. Hoodbhoy, the ‘Jahil’
The past animosity between Dr Hoodbhoy and Ansar Abbasi fueled a debate that turned into an ugly verbal brawl on national television, with insensitive comments being exchanged by both parties. It was really awful! And the most obnoxious thing I found in the debate was Abbasi’s bigoted version of Malala’s book, and his refusal to be corrected when given facts by Dr. Hoodbhoy. He rather, very sordidly, got personal.
Ansar Abbasi has gone after Malala as according to him she, in her book, was too soft on Salman Rushdie. In her book, Malala argued for freedom of speech while disagreeing with the contents of Satanic Verses, more particularly she says: ‘Is Islam such a weak religion that it cannot tolerate a book written against it? Not my Islam!’ She talks about the rights of Ahamadis, the problems with the blasphemy law, and that Pakistan lost three wars against India. The later is a fact accepted everywhere in the world, except in Pakistan's textbooks. And the horror of it all for Abbasi, she criticized Pakistan's brutal military dictator from the 1980s, General Zia ul Haq, and his ‘Islamisation’ policies that Pakistan is still dealing with. Abbasi is indeed a fan of Zia - and Malala's criticism of his hero must have crossed him immensely.
These are the exact excerpts from her book:
'He (Salman Rushdie) has [sic] all the right under freedom of expression, but my father said that we should write a book against him --- My father also saw the book as offensive to Islam but believes strongly in freedom of speech. ‘First, let’s read the book and then why not respond with our own book,’ he suggested.'
'Now we are a country of 180 million and more than 96 per cent are Muslim. We also have around two million Christians and more than two million Ahmadis, who say they are Muslims though our government says they are not. Sadly those minority communities are often attacked.'
Shame on the talk shows that deliberately manipulate such sensitive issues into controversies and the opinion former who manipulate people's feelings by debating around them.
Bushra
23:50 hours
31 October 2013
Peshawar Church Attack
We have become a country where identity – be it religion, ethnicity or gender – can be the difference between being allowed to live and having a permanent death sentence hanging over you.
Christians are slayed while they pray, Shias are dragged out of buses and killed over belief and women are murdered, raped and humiliated because of traditional forms of ‘honour’. The Christians – as patriotic and as Pakistani as any of us – have hardly ever been involved in controversies and have generally chosen to keep a relatively low profile, speaking out only peacefully about the ceaseless social, economic and religious discrimination in their face. Yet, they suffered the same faith as does all other minorities and weak sections of our society.
Over 200 innocent people worshipping, as is their right under the Constitution, have had their lives ruined by bigots and murderers. And some of our politicians believe we should be talking to these people?
We can’t simply be told that these talks will miraculously resolve everything. How can we talk of peace when we are seeing no response from the other side? We blame one group or another, conducting these attacks to sabotage the elusive talks – including the so called ‘foreign hand.’ The absolute last thing we need right now is the usual fit of conspiracy theories.
Talking with the Taliban is fruitless. The government should now order the army to take the gloves off and use whatever legal means practicable to eradicate the bigoted barbarians who threaten the very existence of the country. The attack on Peshawar Church was an attack on everyone who refuses to accept obscurantist agendas. We have remained silent for far too long and silence now will have blood on its hands.
Bushra
23:15 hours
24 September 2013
Jinnah of Pakistan
A couple of months back, I was so stricken by the destruction of Jinnah’s residency in Ziarat by Baluchistan nationalists. I couldn’t help feeling pangs of patriotism rushing through me. It made me curious to explore, the life of this pragmatic leader of South Asia.
One of the tragedies of Pakistani youngsters of my generation is - knowing Jinnah, always as the ‘Quaid-e-Azam,’ through text books from our schools. However, a saint like picture of an impeccable Jinnah painted in these books always seemed to me too good to be true. On the other hand, it’s rare that you find accounts of Jinnah that are not amalgamated with Indian biases towards this man – the one who absolutely stood unbent in the face of two of India’s most popular leaders– Gandhi and Nehru and their insistence on a united India.
Then I hit upon Stanley Wolpert’s, Jinnah of Pakistan. It is the first account of Jinnah I have read that doesn’t portray him as a prophet nor villainies him as some pigheaded opposing Gandhi and Nehru for his vested interests. When I opened this book, I was hooked on by these opening lines in the preface: 'Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three.'
At the start, the book just felt like another chapter from Pakistan Studies text book since the book covers a broader canvas – Jinnah’s life from birth till death. But this was the first account of Jinnah I found no difficulty to believe in. As the charming, eloquent, intelligent and always wining advocate turns into a stubborn, cold, and egoistic man, who was so accustomed to of the idea of winning that failure wasn't a choice for him. Those who have read the book would agree that I'm not denouncing Jinnah, I'm instead praising him! Despite all this, he was the most extraordinary man this land could ever produce.
Jinnah was rather secular and more westernised. He never felt an attachment to the great masses of Indians and didn't feel he could communicate with people on that level. He would much later find that he could, as he finally convinced the Muslim masses that they would have to partition India and that he was the man to lead them.
The book doesn't focus on his triumphs only but his pain and failures are also part of the book. Small anecdotes and major incidents of Jinnah’s life are well narrated. Jinnah’s love and marriage to Ruttie is one of the most interesting parts of the book. Here is an excerpt from the book on death of Ruttie, ‘It (the funeral) was a painfully slow ritual. Jinnah sat silent through all of its five hours. As Ruttie’s body was being lowered into the grave, Jinnah as the nearest relative was the first to throw the earth on the grave. He broke down suddenly and wept and sobbed like a child for minutes together. That was the only time when I found Jinnah betraying some shadow of human weakness.’
Angel or devil, it won't be wrong if I say freedom of India may the result of rioting freedom fighters and post WW II constraints on Briton, but formation of Pakistan can be solely credited to one man - That is Jinnah!
Bushra
20:03 hours
Sunday 3 August 2013
The test of our tolerance
Our country is
plagued by chronic sectarian violence, which has escalated recently
given the targeting of Hazara refugees, who also happen to be Shia. We
have failed to protect our Christian, Ahmadi and Hindu minorities. On
top of that, Pakistani authorities seldom bring perpetrators to justice
or taken action against those who incite violence.
Given this reality, it is understandable if the international community criticises us for failing to adequately protect the rights of minorities. In its latest report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has suggested that the US government designate Pakistan and eight other countries as a ‘country of particular concern’, where sanctions are advised if there is continued failure to protect minorities.
Attacks on places of worship, on places of residence, targeted killings, forced conversions and blasphemy allegations are the different forms of persecution that minorities in Pakistan have incrementally faced over the past few years.
The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by the minorities. And in Pakistan, our authorities, laws and attitudes, all prevent minorities from becoming successful citizens in Pakistan. We live in such an ideologically, insecure country hell-bent on maintaining our brand as Islamic Republic that we even undercount and under-report the percentage of Minorities in our census.
Bushra
Monday 1 July 2013
22:40 hours
Not so promising after all
So we have a new government in place. But the proceedings so
far don’t seem too promising. Is the new government ready for the
innumerable changes ahead?
Bushra
23:24 hours
Saturday 8 June 2013
Elections and the promised ‘change’
I had this sincere wish and gut feel that Imran Khan might
pull off a major upset against all odds in the recent elections. Though, the
results, in terms of number of seats won in the National Assembly, doesn’t
quite reflect the massive impact Imran Khan has made on our political landscape
over the last couple of years. But, no matter how big a mandate Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz may have managed to secure from Punjab to form the next
government, the change ushered in by Imran is what these elections will
always be remembered for!
I was thrilled to see the massive voter turnout, thanks to the
election ‘passion’ instigated mostly by Imran Khan’s unbelievable charisma and Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf’s colossal social media campaign. They truly made the silent
majority come out of their homes for the first time and vote in large numbers.
I went to cast my vote for the first time, and was stirred to see educated
women out of their houses queuing up to cast their votes. Never
in my life before, I witnessed enthusiasm of this sort coupled with concern for
this country’s affairs. Truly unbelievable and moving scenes were witnessed at
polling stations across Pakistan where people who had never bothered to be a
part of the political process came out to vote against all odds as we even saw
people coming on wheelchairs and also on stretchers just to be a part of this
change. Election Commission of Clowns defines ‘Saadiq’ and ‘Ameen’
Responding to the wider debates and confusion around article
62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the Election Commission of Clowns
has finally decided to put an end to the controversy by giving out their
definitions of ‘Saadiq’ and ‘Ameen.’
According to their definition, a Saadiq is a self righteous blockhead, who understands well that
religion is a manipulative tool and NOT someone’s personal matter. One of the
visible signs of a Saadiq includes
his ability to recite ‘Duwaa e Qunoot’ fluently, without necessarily the need
to understand its meaning.
A Saadiq is also
well aware of the ideology of Pakistan. Now, most of the people were not sure
what exactly this particular ideology is, since everyone had their own version?
Therefore, the Election Commission of Clowns has also defined the Ideology of Pakistan: ‘ It was an egalitarian dream (or fantasy) that
resulted in around 500,000 brutal killings in a single year in India and
Pakistan. It also provided an immediate opportunity for looting and invasion of
properties of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan and rape of around
10,000 of their women. The ideology is also our rationale to compete against an impossible rival with a massive army and defense spending, leaving common population
to live well below poverty line. The complacency
of the ideology is evident by Baloch nationalists movements claiming returns
for ‘their’ resources of natural gas, Sindhi politicians opposing Kalabagh Dam
keeping back ‘their’ share of Indus waters and also, by breaking away of
Bangladesh from Pakistan back in 1971.’
A Saadiq is also a person who firmly believes in the
distorted history and manipulated facts taught in the text books in Pakistan.
According to the Election Commission of Clowns a perfect
role model of Saadiq is Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan.
The role model of an Ameen could be Mullah Omar!
Not so happy women’s day
According to recent surveys of Pakistan, while female education is on the rise, the percentage of males educating themselves remains stagnant. Job opportunities for women have increased. But male unemployment remains unchanged, as does their mindset.
Despite the fact that women now felt empowered and were aware of their rights, their condition did not change. Mostly, still, a girl is forced to marry an unemployed suitor and become the breadwinner of the family. Wife beating, acid attacks, number of children, demand for dowry and the attitude of men, remained constant. We witness the same in our country. Even though we see the emergence of a new Pakistani woman – aware of her rights and ready to fight her battles – but she is still a ‘damsel in distress’.
In a patriarchal society like ours, the need of the hour is to develop a plan to work on the mindset of the rural, or uneducated, male. Subjugation of women has been imbedded in their minds as part of the culture. This may not be true for most of the male urban dwellers but the perception at large remains the same.
Schools for girls, vocational centres and female empowerment campaigns may raise the threshold of awareness, even marginally increase women empowerment, but women will not gain the rights and respect they deserve in society until and unless the minds of young men of the under privileged class are not liberated through education and employment.
There are numerous components of gender inequality that cannot be solved merely by basic education or financial empowerment. First, the need of the hour is to focus on deep-seated patriarchal cultural causes that take away from the woman the freedom to make informed choices.
Bushra
1840 hours
Friday 8 March
Minorities, this is not a country for you!
Extremist bombers killed nearly 200 people in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta in the two worst bomb attacks to strike Shia Muslims from the minority Hazara community, just weeks apart on January 10 and February 16.
The aftermath of the attack once again paralysed the country. After the usual assurances by the government, the Hazara community finally agreed to bury their loved ones. Reportedly, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is ensconced in Mastung and the Frontier Corps (FC) has shown some resolve in taking them to task.
The menace of terrorism apparently started with Pakistan’s recruitment of the youth to sign up as mujahideen to fight the Soviet ‘infidels’. Madressahs have proliferated without hindrance, although the progenitor of this trend Gen Ziaul Haq died a quarter century back. The trend shows no sign of lessening and the current civilian government miserably seemed failed to curb extremism in the country.
It’s a shame to see how the sound administrative setup inherited from colonial days has been thoroughly disfigured both by dictators and venal politicians. While the number of officers has increased ten-fold, their efficiency has gone down in inverse proportion. From secretaries to inspector generals of the police, officers are daily paraded before the Supreme Court but no one takes responsibility and there are no honest answers.
The taxpayer is justified in inquiring why this overfed administration should be maintained when no one is working?
Bushra
2015 hours
Thursday 28 February
The Qadri madness
And so while the long march was impressive the numbers, for the most part, remained static. It was a huge crowd and the Allama’s followers stayed put despite the bad weather. But Jinnah Avenue did not turn into Tahrir Square. And so the dream had to come to an end.
Pakistan - A people’s democracy? Egalitarianism? What nonsense. Pakistan was created for the triumph of the upper classes, and its democracy fashioned to keep this arrangement in place.
If the present regime has made bad governance into an art, what did others do before it? This democracy only functions to fulfill the needs and greed of the rulers and their functionaries. This stood out as an stark reality during the recent Balochistan crisis when no one of any consequence visited the Shia protestors, a majority of them women and children braving the cold for several days and nights, beside the dead bodies of their loved ones. The provincial government was dismissed by only when it became apparent that the crisis could possibly derail the federal government itself. Asif Zardari was helped along in his decision when a large group of Shia protesters, somehow evading the strict security cordon in Clifton, gathered to stage a dharna near Bilawal House in Karachi.
If the Shia protesters could sit out the freezing cold of Quetta till the Balochistan government was shunted out, Qadri’s supporters can brave Islamabad’s freezing rain. Certainly there is need for elections to sustain democracy but what if this democracy continues to sustain corruption? Do not confuse SC’s orders for Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s arrest as an attack on democracy. A coincidence perhaps, but orders for his arrest for corruption as an individual coincided with him being Prime Minister. Let another PPP stalwart become prime minister or simply announce general elections! The country cannot afford a constitutional crisis because of the likely confrontation between the government and the Supreme Court.
Bushra
2210 hours
Saturday 19 January 2013
